HTML5 gaming – what are we talking about?

The conversation about HTML5 gaming is changing all the time.

In just 12 short months we’ve gone from starting conversations with “hey, what’s this cool new tech / standard I can make games with ?” to “hey, I can make some money here,” and “hey, look at all these amazing tools I get to play with.”

But what were the conversations we were having inbetween and what are the conversations we could / should be having in the coming 12 months ?

It’s true that in the few years since the dev world adopted HTML5 as a standard fit for gaming requirements the vendor world has dragged its heels somewhat in trying to catch up and meet the requirements of the rapidly expanding community. Consistent support across the board is slowly emerging with the ever stubborn Internet Explorer finally adding some weight to the game.
Sluggish adoption is no more evident than in the iOS 5 upgrade pushed out by Apple towards the back end of last year. Finally developers could target Apple’s mobile devices and enjoy a practical amount of horse power for constructing good quality arcade games.
Better still the eyes of the world’s mobile gaming portal operators were opened and opened wide. Millions of people own iOS devices and millions of people playing games that are free from the trappings of App Store regulation means, in theory, greater margins.
Mobile web gaming took off and the conversations soon turned to that of monetisation and commercial interests.

But for me it is the conversations that typically started “where do I start” that have changed the most.
A quick look around Twitter and the open web development community in general will show you that there is now a tremendous focus on tools, engines and frameworks.

High profile software vendor Adobe changed things when it announced Adobe Edge. Although it’s not game specific it certainly provides a rich tool set for creating content for web presentation using the same open standards that we use to build games. If you’re in any doubt about the intimate relationship between HTML5 markup, JavaScript and CSS Adobe’s Edge will help you to muddle through.
This is good. It gives developers a way in and changes the conversation back to “how do I … ?”

ImpactJS, a well established and robust HTML5 game development engine launched in 2011 is a fantastic example of that blend of good design and perfect timing.
Around the time of Impact’s launch the conversations in the HTML5 gaming community were stuck at “where do I start ?”, “Why won’t it do this ? “, “I feel like I’m fighting this, ” and of course the biggest pain in everybody’s backside “what the hell is the score with HTML5 audio ?”

Such was the urgency for amateur developers and small studios to try and make some headway in this burgeoning world of HTML5 gaming the conversations soon included “how can I get started quickly and reliably with HTML5 games ?”, “what is the path of least risk ( cost ) in creating HTML5 games ?”

Solid game engines like ImpactJS proved not only that there was a market for such tools but also that the market for HTML5 games was rich and growing. Conversations could be seen emerging on the web along the lines of “how many people are playing these HTML5 games ?”, “is there REALLY a market for HTML5 games ?” Perhaps the most important question of all “WHO is playing these games ?” was yet to be answered.

Facebook kept the wave from falling.
For what is arguably the most important web site out there to state that it would extend its social gaming to mobile devices was an enormous event. One that I feel really hasn’t been fully understood for its importance even now.
Any questions surrounding the size of the market for HTML5 games were answered in a heartbeat.
Facebook’s 350 million mobile users were all entering the arena.

Soon the high profile successes of companies like Dextrose (AVES engine) and RocketPack would be matched by similarly sized outfits looking to have their technologies adopted by comparable giants to Zynga and Disney.
The game development community couldn’t lose. Strategies shifted and large gaming portals started to follow Spil Games’ direction by embracing HTML5 games as the future.
“We’re going to make HTML5 games. So what’s the best engine ? Who are the best developers ? Who can give us the games that we need right now to bolster our portfolio ?”

HTML5 game developers were right back at the centre of the discussion and game engine creators started to put 48 hour shifts in to get their own software up to production standards. Everybody wants this new wave of game creator to be on side and in bed with their brand.
There are so many engines and smaller frameworks available to developers now that the conversations have again switched back to “which is the best engine ?” and “which engine has produced the best games”.
“Which engine will give me the flexibility to produce the games that I / the market want to make / see ?”

Although it’s arguable just how much of an impact Flash has had on mobile devices over the years the importance of this announcement to the broader web gaming community cannot be overstated. Adobe, a huge player in the business of providing rich web experiences, had flung the doors wide open for HTML5 developers to stampede through with greater confidence.
Consequently the game changed.
Hardened Flash developers took notice and began to turn their attentions to the potential for this new kid on the block. Again as a direct consequence the bar was and still is being raised. Flash developers bring with them an enormous amount of experience and talent which, if HTML5 is to be taken seriously, is much needed.

Tools for HTML5 game creation are really starting to gain greater exposure. Just go and look at Scirra and GameMaker. Both of whom enjoy active and fertile communities. These companies are helping to turn the conversations back around to “hey, look what I can make” and “wow, I can do THIS !”

I love the fact that amateur coders, such as myself, can still play a huge part in the world of game development by sitting in their bedroom dreaming up great games and then turn to their computer and, well, just make it happen. This is vital in keeping the conversation focused around “WOW !” and not “How ?”

We really need to be seeing more games.
Games that are good, bad and ugly. It really doesn’t matter.
If somebody creates a game that they’ve enjoyed making such that they’re in love with the process of making games then that’s great for everybody. Quality comes with experience and confidence.
You can’t very well teach somebody that the real crunch in making a great game comes in that final 10% of its development. They just have to see it for themselves and understand what was missing or not required.

The more people writing their own engines /frameworks and the more people using off the shelf tools and engines the better. Everybody has their part to play.

So in short, although the standards have been around for a little while now it’s really only in the last 12 months that we’ve seen significant changes in the way that we discuss HTML5 games. Moving from a sense of intrigue and exploration to a more practical sense of efficient development and commercial positioning.
My only fear is that the amateur “bedroom” coder / game designer becomes intimidated and struggles to find a foothold in a rapidly developing world of tools, engines and commercialisation. As exciting and indeed necessary as all of those things are they can very well provide a psychological barrier to entry at the most amateur level.

I hope I’m wrong and the conversation amongst the developer community continues to centre around “Look at the cool games that I’m making / can make with this technology !”
If you are an HTML5 game developer then the future is yours. If you become good at it you will be worth money. Never lose sight of your passion for games. There are plenty of tools emerging to make your life easier. Always ask yourself “how can I make this ?” or “wouldn’t it be cool if…”

Except Flash cannot (and never will) be able to do mobile browser games, which is what Mark specialises in. It’s not a case of the tool not being suitable for purpose here, it’s simply not even a contender in this space.

Ryan

February 20, 2012 at 1:20 pm

I’m not trolling here, this is an honest question: can you point me towards some /good/ html5 games? My mobile plays flash fine, and I’ve been able to play far more flash games on my mobile (point and click/shoot games are best, but many other work) I have the choice of going straight to the swf, or just double click to take focus on the flash and play full screen.

I’ve tried loads of html5 games (my company were looking to build some recently for a client – mobile focused) and the ones that ran were clunky, ugly and played slowly where flash plays fine on my pretty old android. About the best game I played was a really basic pool type game, that was it, nothing else mobile focused was great and/or fun. My main grumble is the sizing – with flash I can play full screen, with html5 generally they are fixed size so I end up wasting up to 50% of my screen, or on the worst one the dev hasn’t even bothered to centre the game, thinking that everyone has an iPhone.

I’d love to try some genuinely good html5 mobile games out there – that come close to even non-optimised flash games on my Dell Streak, but aside from space-invaders/R-Type clones, without sound, there just isn’t much out there.

Mark

I suppose I should be offended. I naturally think my own games, i.e. those on this site, are “good” ;)

“flash plays fine on my pretty old android”
I’m guessing it doesn’t play so well on your pretty old iOS ;)

The point here, and the point I was trying to make with this post, is that we are in the midst of a transition in the way that we think about mobile gaming.

Flash is mature and has a wealth of tools, libraries and seasoned developers – many of which will come from professional game development backgrounds.
Flash game development is the stuff of studios where separate disciplines will be handed over to individual, highly talented people.

Mobile web browser gaming is anything but mature. HTML5 is still developing as a standard. The tools and libraries are emerging but the people making the games are going to be largely one-man-bands muddling through with Gimp or a ripped off Photoshop and a text editor.

There are however a couple of high profile desktop based Canvas based games that should illustrate what is possible when you have the luxury of a good team:

Ryan

February 21, 2012 at 1:14 pm

Sorry I was being harsh – but for example this game: http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/games/bath-the-bear-game plays great on both my browser, and my Android. I’ve seen nothing mobile focused of that level of complexity, excitment or interest (yet) in HTML5.

iOS, and those that use it, made a choice to not support flash – and I am cool with that, but it just feels like we’ve taken a few steps back. We are backing a system/language that currently doesn’t allow us to do very exciting things – I know in time that will change, but as long as HTML5 games can’t have multiple audio and video tracks (well they can on PC and Mac, but not iOS devices) then the games that are built to be played in browsers are going to be limited and limiting.

Roll on the day that HTML5 can do what Flash can do now, and roll on the day that most mobile browsers support the full HTML5 feature set – then we can get away from the single device app and open the internet back up.

I agree Ryan, the number of DECENT html5 browser games right now is tiny. But I honestly see that changing very rapidly right now – GPU acceleration on iOS already, Chrome for Android has it, Firefox on Android has it, and I know Flash runs well on your Android device, but read the following (from the Adobe Flash 2012 roadmap): “Flash Player 11.1 is the last release of the Flash Player plug-in for mobile browsers. Adobe will not add support for new mobile device configurations (chipset, browser, OS version, etc.). Adobe will continue to provide critical bug fixes and security updates for existing device configurations and will also allow our source-code licensees to continue working on and releasing their own implementations.

Bwakathaboom

February 15, 2012 at 4:48 pm

Sadly the conversation I still see in the Flash community is “HTML5 can’t do this, can’t do that” and “You’re still better off with Flash”. On one hand it means less competition for HTML5 developers but on the other hand it also means new, cool games are slow in coming out, which hampers the movement as a whole.